“Here you go.” Boyd tapped Travers on the shoulder. He’d also donned a ski mask before entering the interrogation room. They always wanted to leave open the possibility of letting the subject go. That couldn’t happen if the sub saw their faces. Then they’d have to kill him.
“We good?” Travers wanted to know.
“Oh, yeah.” Boyd handed over the glass and then headed back out. “Very good.”
Travers held the glass up to Kaashif’s lips and tilted. He nodded approvingly as the young man drank every drop. When the water was gone, Travers turned and hurled the glass against the wall, shattering it into hundreds of pieces. Then he picked up the bucket in the corner — it was filled with ice water — and doused Kaashif.
He waited for the frigid liquid to have its effect. When Kaashif was shivering and sobbing uncontrollably, Travers grabbed the young man’s chin and shook it hard. “What exactly do those transmissions mean?”
“I do not know what transmissions you are talking of. Please let me go home. I want to see my mother and father.” Kaashif’s sobs grew even louder. His trembling lips were turning dark blue.
“Why was your name mentioned in them?”
“It must have been someone else they were talking about. I am just a high school student.”
“High school’s your cover. You and I both know that.”
“No, that is wrong.”
“You started this year at this school, but there’s no record of where you were before that.”
“My parents moved down to Philadelphia from Toronto last summer. You can check it out.”
“You’re lying, you little bastard.” Travers shook Kaashif’s chin hard again. “When will the attack come?”
“What attack?”
“Where will it happen?”
“I do not know, I swear.” Tears began to roll down Kaashif’s face in fast-running torrents. “I told you, I am just a high school senior. How could I know anything?”
Travers grabbed a rope from one of the chest drawers and then moved back to where Kaashif was hanging. He tied the ends of the rope together so it formed a closed loop ten feet long, slipped one end of the loop over Kaashif’s head so it rested on the young man’s neck and shoulders, and then stepped back several paces. The rope sagged in the middle until Travers took a short piece of pipe he’d also snagged from the drawer, put the pipe into his end of the loop, and began to turn. The sag in the rope decreased as the head of the twist slowly approached Kaashif’s vulnerable throat.
“Tell me about the attack,” Travers demanded as the twist advanced. “That’s the only way you live.”
Kaashif turned his head slightly to the side as his upper lip curled, and he swallowed hard. “I do not know anything.”
“Save yourself, son. Why die? What’s the point?”
“I cannot save myself. I have no information. I should be taking a calculus test today. Please let me go.”
“I don’t have time for this. Tell me.”
“I do not know anything,” Kaashif repeated. His voice was shaking wildly.
“Tell me!” Travers roared. “Or so help me God I’ll kill you!”
As the rope closed in on Kaashif’s soft throat, he began to scream. Even through the screams, Travers could hear Boyd chuckling in the doorway.
Travers liked Harry Boyd. The man’s honor, bravery, and commitment to country could never be questioned. He was a hero, a true patriot, though few people knew how many times he’d risked his life to keep America safe — how many times they both had. And they’d become fast friends along the way.
Travers grimaced as Kaashif continued to scream and Boyd continued to laugh. Harry Boyd was a good man, all right. But there was nothing funny about this.
CHAPTER 3
“It’s the best cell phone ever,” the young salesman said confidently, smiling widely from behind the glass counter as he handed the young woman the device. “Fits perfectly in your palm, right? Screen’s way cool. And what it can do is epic.”
Jennie nodded. It did fit perfectly in her hand, and it was very cool looking.
“You’re just lucky we’ve still got a few left over from the national rollout last week.” His smile grew even wider. “You must be a naturally lucky woman. Pretty, too,” he murmured after a few moments. “Very.”
“Thank you,” she answered self-consciously at his forward compliment.
She had long jet-black hair, green eyes, light brown skin, and full lips that framed a high-cheekbone smile. Today she was wearing a low-cut blouse, snug jeans, and heels — edgy but not over the top. She’d caught the looks on her way through the mall to this store.
“Is this a last-minute Christmas gift for your boyfriend?”
Jennie recognized the intent behind the question — and the smile. She’d seen that smile many times from white boys. He was fantasizing about being with a Latina, but that was okay. She didn’t mind. He wasn’t being obnoxious about it, and guys were guys no matter the color of their skin. That was just the way of the world. She was only twenty-six, but she’d come to that conclusion long ago.
And she appreciated it when things were predictable. Predictability enabled one to prepare, and preparation was a key success factor in any endeavor.
“I’m getting it for myself, Chad.” He wasn’t bad-looking, either. “If I get it.”
“I like the sound of that.”
“I’m not sure yet,” she cautioned, glancing at her watch. She still had time. “Don’t count this thing in the sales column yet.”
“I didn’t mean that. I meant the part about you not having a boyfriend.”
She grinned as she glanced at the camera in the ceiling corner, which seemed to be aimed straight at her, wondering. “Okay, I’ll take it. It’s a lot of money, but hey, so what?”
“Impulsive. Love it. What about dinner tonight? Can you be impulsive about a date with me?”
“Where are we going? Wendy’s?”
The guy’s happy expression disintegrated. “Is it that obvious I don’t—”
“I’m just kidding. And I wouldn’t care where we went. Besides, I like Wendy’s.”
“Hey, I can do better than that,” he said confidently, looking relieved. “I think I’ve still got a hundred bucks left on my third Visa card.”
They laughed together, and it felt right. A sense of humor, and he didn’t take himself too seriously. Good, because both of those things were requirements in a man for her. Jennie tapped the phone’s box as she gave him her sincerest smile. “Just ring this up, okay?”
“Sure.”
She reached into her pocket and pulled out her old flip phone.
He shook his head and snickered when he saw it. “Dinosaur.”
“I know, but can you transfer the numbers and the pictures over?”
“Absolutely,” he agreed as he took the old phone from her. “Let me get the SIM card out and work a little magic in the back. Give me a minute.”
When he’d returned and the new phone was ready, he started to hand her the plastic bag filled with all the ancillaries — case, cords, her old phone, receipt — but pulled it back at the last second as she went for it. “I should show you a few really cool apps before you leave.”
She shook her head as she checked her watch again. “No time. Gotta go. And I’m busy tonight. Sorry.”
“Come back tomorrow then,” he suggested, relinquishing the bag. “Seriously, it’ll save you a lot of time if I do it.”
“Maybe.”
“What’s your name?” he called as she headed for the front of the store and the huge mall beyond.
“Jennie,” she called back over her shoulder as she tossed her hair. “Jennie Perez.”